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What if journalism is doing it wrong? What if reporting about the problems, ills and calamities of the world isn't the best way to actually solve them? What if, instead, it makes readers feel powerless and more inclined to ignore those challenges, distrust the world and retreat to their backyards instead of participating in the commons of civil discourse and action?

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Warning: the first few paragraphs contain a potentially triggering description of suicidal ideation.

Almost every single Saturday of the past year, I've walked home from the office of the student newspaper I work for, at some time between 4 and 6 a.m. after having spent more than 18 straight hours working.